A new light xml U2 light (review)

Any how I received the kit a couple day ago.
The reason I chose this one was the U2 emitter,smaller size ,and the overall design of battery case and the light housing and had the OP reflector.

Well it is cool. The head unit is small sexy and very well made.

specs

The lens is 31mm
light head 4.7cm
4.3cm wide
110gms

I took the bezel off and found the Op to be nicely Machined reflector 8.4gms (should absorb some heat) The bezel clamps the reflector to the emitter spacer tightly, I added a small amount of arctic silver heat past between the base of the OP and the spacer just for kicks.

The cord exits the head unit with seal grommet.

Beam shot at 6 ft with my 808 xmlT6 clone with SMO of off same battery pack using y adapter.
The big Brighter spot is the Hi-Max As you can seen it blow my xml clone ( i have two ) away.

Nice! Like the machined look and battery case seems well done. Looks like it is a bit shorter than the MS808 but about the same diameter? Also, how many days did it take to get it?

An 808 is 4.7 c'mon diameter vs the
The hi max is 4cm flat side to flat side or at its widest it 4.3
It's about 1. 3 cm shorter than the 808.
About 2 weeks to arrive.
It looks wicked in person. The light output is considerably more than my 808's.
Awesome!

An 808 is 4.7 c'mon diameter vs the
The hi max is 4cm flat side to flat side or at its widest it 4.3
It's about 1. 3 cm shorter than the 808.
About 2 weeks to arrive.
It looks wicked in person. The light output is considerably more than my 808's.
Awesome!

Interesting. I would be interested to know how much current the Hi Max pulls on high. With the wider beam pattern it should be more of a flood output. I am curious to know how the two different lamps compare in actual throw. The only way to demonstrate that would be with a couple outdoor beam shots. To bad it is only a two mode. Nice looking lamp head though. The hexagon shape was popular a year or so ago. I'm glad to see it is still knocking around.

This is the same light sold by advmonster, I've been using it as a commuter light since August. Nothing to write home about, it's been reliable, but the button on the back always glows green, it doesn't chance color as the battery charge goes down (I think it's supposed to). Typical symmetrical beam, good spread though without too much of a hotspot. There's been a thread before about it:ADVmonster.com Waterproof Bike Light

Funny thing, i just came across this clone light a few minutes ago
I'm looking for something cheaper or as cheap as my 808 clone...but stronger. This one looks good. It is a clone too, but it looks strong and with a great beam pattern for my commuting. Too bad the lens is 8mm smaller than MS's wide angle lens... It is floody, but i love the wide angle lens.

Reelchef67, will you provide outdoor beamshots of the 808 clone vs this one? Too bad the 808 has the smooth reflector, otherwise it would be the perfect comparison as mine has an OP instead.

Funny thing, i just came across this clone light a few minutes ago
I'm looking for something cheaper or as cheap as my 808 clone...but stronger. This one looks good. It is a clone too, but it looks strong and with a great beam pattern for my commuting. Too bad the lens is 8mm smaller than MS's wide angle lens... It is floody, but i love the wide angle lens.

Reelchef67, will you provide outdoor beamshots of the 808 clone vs this one? Too bad the 808 has the smooth reflector, otherwise it would be the perfect comparison as mine has an OP instead.

I love those wide angle lenses too, good new for you is that sinse this light has a smaller diameter you can just grind down the 39mm lens to fit. If your using this light for commuting/road another thing you might want to consider is glueing the lens to the front of the bezel instead of replacing the stock len with it. The benefit to this is that it makes a glowing ring the thickness of the lens around the front of the light and increases your side visiblity. I accidently ran across this modifying a Gemini Olympia light sinse it was the only way I couild think of to mount the wide angle lens with a optic equiped light. Another thing I want to mention is that the Action wide angle lens does not work the same with all lights. It didn't have near the dramatic effect using it with the Olympia and I didn't like it at all with my Xera w/optional reflector, though it worked fine mounted to the front of the Xeras bezel with the standard optic. It's easy to test though, all you have to do is hold the wide angle lens on the front of the light and you can see what the beam pattern is going to look like before you modify anything.
Mole

I will try to get some beam shots tonight.
Personally I'm sure it clone as I can't find no company selling such a light .

Mine says made in Korea and there is Korean website ( that I can't read ) that has some intersesting pics, as well they are on Nasdaq as publicly traded company..

Originally Posted by PedroDank

Funny thing, i just came across this clone light a few minutes ago
I'm looking for something cheaper or as cheap as my 808 clone...but stronger. This one looks good. It is a clone too, but it looks strong and with a great beam pattern for my commuting. Too bad the lens is 8mm smaller than MS's wide angle lens... It is floody, but i love the wide angle lens.

Reelchef67, will you provide outdoor beamshots of the 808 clone vs this one? Too bad the 808 has the smooth reflector, otherwise it would be the perfect comparison as mine has an OP instead.

I am sceptical of clone "theory" having looked at Adv's post and my li which is not close but Identical in every aspect of the light including battery bag wire thickness , connectors, minus the name on the bezel.

Quote from ADV 's post " I am glad that someone brought this up. That is the same style housing that is used by us and a couple of other companies.
I would not be surprised if the Adv sourced the light overseas to their specs (This is very common in retail products) made some additions like thermal paste on the reflector base and and epoxy adhesive where the wire comes out of the head for strain relief.
Adv does not have the light on their website anymore btw.

I have electronics back ground as well as machining( i have a lathe/mill etc)
I took my head unit apart and it is very well machined and designed right down to water proof grommet where the wire leaves the head unit.
I like the light so I am happy

That is great Mole, thanks for your feedback. I am using it for road/commuting, yes. Are you going to try yours with the wide angle lens?

Pedro, I don't actually own one of these lightheads. In one of your previous posts you made it sound like being able to use the Action wide angle lens was an important factor in choosing a light and I just wanted you to know that with a little work it can be used with any light that has a lens diameter of 39mm or smaller (although results can vary).
I have plenty of lights at the moment (8 lightheads & 5 batteries) so I'm not buying anything soon, but if you decide to get this clone lets us know how it works for you.
Mole

Pedro, I don't actually own one of these lightheads. In one of your previous posts you made it sound like being able to use the Action wide angle lens was an important factor in choosing a light and I just wanted you to know that with a little work it can be used with any light that has a lens diameter of 39mm or smaller (although results can vary).
I have plenty of lights at the moment (8 lightheads & 5 batteries) so I'm not buying anything soon, but if you decide to get this clone lets us know how it works for you.
Mole

Oops, I'm sorry, i thought you were the thread starter...
However, I will post photos if i do get this light or any other kind of other U2 clone as i also have a T6.

[Here's a spot XML U2 clone. Looks like they are just starting to come out now.

Maybe someone will take the plunge who already has a T6 clone and give us a comparison.

MB

That got me thinking... My clone is a 9W (at least that is what the eBay seller is saying - i can't actually measure it) T6 headlight and this one is a 15W U2 led. It should be pretty powerful! I've checked the LED datasheet and i can see the U2 is ~8% brighter under the same Amps. So...it is 60% more powerfull (15W vs 9W) + 8% more efficient.
That should make a noticeable difference...

I used the u2 last night on my ride. I didn't take beam shots as it was very foggy.
However here's what I could discern .
1) it does not throw like my XML Mj clone
2)The light fill was much more usable in stock form, rendering a wide Angle lens pointless
3) my riding partners all voted it the brightest of my three lights.
I had 1 mj 808 xml clone with a Smo
1 mj 808 XML clone with two wide angle each st 90" to each other.
I think I will be adding two wide angle lenses to my 2nd 808 clone as the spot was pointless on my bars. The U2 on my helmet worked great.
However It did not stop me from going Otb on the first log crossing last night resulting in three massive bruises on my left thigh and hip bone. I forgot my fork lockout was on and hit a root at the base stopping me dead and cartwheeling me onto a bunch of cedar roots with my bike on top of me.
Barely walking today. Felt like fell three feet onto a pile of 2x4 's...

Thank you very much, Reelchef67. That is a great review and it made me happy.
I don't need a thrower, but a light that can illuminate a good area in front of me, as i will be riding mostly on road.

You mentioned something very curious: two wide angle lens mounted in a 90º difference. How is the beam pattern of that configuration?!

I wish you a quick recovery!

Thanks Pedro
Btw it's still a thrower but wide too(very happy with that)
I came across using two wide angle lenses online somewhere. It turns the beam from 10x30 to 30x30.
Works brilliantly, I used a little plastic glue to stick them together at 90" it's easier to line it up that way.

Hm, a 30x30 would still make it a spotty beam, but a bit wider, right? I guess that is a cool setup for road use if i pointed even lower to the ground. I will try to find that on that web and see if i can see some photos for comparison.

Just one more thing: when you say it is the brightest, is it only due to the spotlight or as whole considering the illuminated surroundings? (my english gets funnier when i get sleepy...)

EDIT:
Found you magic shine 808 xml clones
That looks great. How did you glow them? I know the wide angle lens has a roughed stripped surface and a smooth one... Did you glue only the smooth side of them? That beam pattern would be a great addition to my bar lights (already have a 808 clone with wide angle there) while commuting and road biking.

Hm, a 30x30 would still make it a spotty beam, but a bit wider, right? I guess that is a cool setup for road use if i pointed even lower to the ground. I will try to find that on that web and see if i can see some photos for comparison.

Just one more thing: when you say it is the brightest, is it only due to the spotlight or as whole considering the illuminated surroundings? (my english gets funnier when i get sleepy...)

EDIT:
Found you magic shine 808 xml clones
That looks great. How did you glow them? I know the wide angle lens has a roughed stripped surface and a smooth one... Did you glue only the smooth side of them? :

I aligned the two flat side to flat side at 90" then clamped them gently together and dabbed a tiny bit of glue at 2 spots just on the edge. Let dry
Just barely glued is all u need.
I used methylene chloride which welds plastic , but u could use a little thick NOT thin! Crazy glue

I guess i should be ok with one wide angle lens pointed closer to the bike (the 808 clone i already have) and that 30x30 a bit further but also too the ground...that will give me a nice pattern for road biking. What do you think?

I'm sorry to be a PITA, but could you please provide an outdoor picture of that 30x30? It really looks interesting, but i want to make sure i'm not wasting money... Take your time, I don't need to buy it just now. Will only do so probably in around 2 weeks...

I should get it first week of January. I'm excited to get more tinkering going on on my bikes

edit. Should I be alright with the stock beam pattern of this light as a weekend warrior type of night riding ? Or should I go ahead and get the wider lens so I can have everything in time ?

Cool
Depends on your plans
I would not ride without a light on my helmet..,
If its on your bars you will be blind while turning corners.
The light has good spread, it's somewhere between a spot and wide.

Thanks. I'm planning to put this one on my bars and eventually get a helmet one too.

I'll be riding mostly wide and quite easy trails, nothing fancy, and also for the next months there will be plenty of snow to provide ambient light I should might not even need the light much

For me it's really an experiment to see if having a light setup will really push me to go ride more often at night like I think I will or will not do much difference to my riding pattern... If I get to go ride more, then I'll check for helmet light too. How did you fix the light in a good and reliable way to either your helmet or bar ? The o-ring system has left me suspicious of an too easy to happen failure and I'd hate to waste my ride fighting with the light mount.

Thanks for the help

Originally Posted by NicoleB28

topless. that's what all mtb girls do. we go ride, get topless, have pillow fights in the woods, scissor, then ride home!

You' ll be fine on the bars with the trails you plan then. The oring system is very secure and not flimsy and if you wipe out it lets the light move instead of breaking a rigid mount.
I ride some gnarly north shore Vancouver trails , o ring mount are the way to go.

Surprised to hear that. I had trouble to believe that those o-ring mounts were actually not just a quick fix. I'll take your word for it and see for myself.

Anyway I'm not a fast rider in tech stuff, more of a slow, but enjoying type of rider. Still have to get a lot of MTB skills in and unfortunately not having many real MTB trails around here are leaving me with the basics. But it's alright. I only ride for the god damn sake of simply riding my bike fast or slow, it's all about enjoying it.

Originally Posted by NicoleB28

topless. that's what all mtb girls do. we go ride, get topless, have pillow fights in the woods, scissor, then ride home!

Just got the light in yesterday. Everything in the package looked good, I ran the battery down after playing around a little first, took about 4 hours on max output to empty the battery pack out of the box. Then charged it overnight and now I'm waiting for the next night ride to go check it out !

I've also went riding for a few hours yesterday, so I got a good idea of the trails condition after that big snow storm, will be helpful when I go back at night. Power is great and beam looks wide enough to my untrained eyes.

I'd like to mount the light on the front of my helmet, but that headband thing isn't gonna make it around the helmet. I thought about using a piece of pipe attached to the helmet to mount the light on. Ideally would be to screw in a little pod, so it looks clean and secure. My concern with helmet mount however is what happen if I crash. I'm afraid the light will be ripped off or damaged, considering I'm usually going OTB a few times every ride, nothing hard, just kissing the snow bank, but I don't think it would be good for the light.

And I was wondering if you should charge the pack after every ride or if you should wait for it to be near the end (at worst by monitoring the run time and guessing how much battery left there is afterward) ?

Originally Posted by NicoleB28

topless. that's what all mtb girls do. we go ride, get topless, have pillow fights in the woods, scissor, then ride home!

Lithium batteries prefer to be charged after every ride , not drained and charged.
I cut the straps of one of my head mounts ( I have 3) then use 1 inch Velcro straps from Home Depot to strap to helmet. I route my wire along top with smaller velcros so does not snag.
I have been Otb several times light is fine.. The oring let's it move and not get damaged.

We just had another snow storm, so no riding tonight. Bike is a real ***** to pedal around and even more to clean up since I have to ride in the city to get back home, and all the streetshit is clogging up and I can't let it sit overnight with all the salts and chemicals, my brake rotors and drivetrain don't like it... But once you get to the mountain, it's a lot of fun ! I just wish I would have bought a lighter bike to begin with, instead of that 40lbs FR pig.

Originally Posted by NicoleB28

topless. that's what all mtb girls do. we go ride, get topless, have pillow fights in the woods, scissor, then ride home!

40lbs? Yikes and I thought my bike was heavy @32lbs...
Snow bites , we still have only rain here in Vancouver , unfortunately I have whiplash from a bad Otb so I can't ride right now. I was lucky could have been worse..

Yeah... it was my first mtb, and I had quite a good deal on the bike. Was pretty much new and decent specs, plus at the time I didn't wanted to buy used too much since I wasn't familiar with all the fancy mtb stuff

Now I bought a nice '00 XC bike in mint condition, one of my dream bike actually. But can't ride it till I first get some workshop remodeling done in my basement... Plus I'll need a disc wheelset, and eye-balling the carbon rim from china... otherwise I'd rip riding that bike at under 28lbs ! A GT XCR3000 with i-drive suspension is sooooo sweet

But yeah, till I somehow save $1 800 and manage to justify spending it on a $2 400 MSRP frame hand made in Bromont (Xprezo Super-D), then swap the parts over, I won't have a 150mm AM frame under 5lbs in my collection.

At least at 20yo, I still have years ahead of me

And considering I'm about 110lbs without gear, it's easy to understand how I can run out of breath pushing that bike uphill. At least I'm strong.

Originally Posted by NicoleB28

topless. that's what all mtb girls do. we go ride, get topless, have pillow fights in the woods, scissor, then ride home!

You click the button to switch from hi, low, flash and off. Honestly I would have taken the flash setting in low-output, since you're more likely to use it to only show your presence and at max output it simply look like a stroboscope and not very useful at all.

Originally Posted by NicoleB28

topless. that's what all mtb girls do. we go ride, get topless, have pillow fights in the woods, scissor, then ride home!

Maybe someone will take the plunge who already has a T6 clone and give us a comparison.

MB

After seeing this thread..I just ordered the Hi-Max U2
I might order one of these clone U2s also at that price.
Thanks for all the details here, guys!
Finally replacing an old Niterider Moab that is starting to have some issues....

Well I tried it last night on a short urban commute just for fun. Power is awesome and beam pattern is nice. Good ambient light and spot. Weather is awful to ride in unless you wanna spend over 1 hour cleaning out your drivetrain and bike after the ride. Streets are full of salt and chemicals so unless you drive to the trails, it's killing your bike. Sad. I'll see if I could take some pictures of the light beam though.

Originally Posted by NicoleB28

topless. that's what all mtb girls do. we go ride, get topless, have pillow fights in the woods, scissor, then ride home!